A flexible circuit board may be connected to an electronic device by a connector. FIG. 1 illustrates a connector 1 for connecting a flexible circuit board, disclosed by China utility model patent application No. CN200620114384.0. The connector 1 comprises a housing 11 and a plurality of terminals 12. Each terminal 12 comprises a contact arm 121 and a supporting arm 122, wherein the flexible circuit board is sandwiched between the contact arm 121 and the supporting arm 122. The plurality of terminals 12 are spaced apart therebetween. The contact arms 121 are spaced by gaps, and the supporting arms 122 are also spaced by gaps, so that uneven surfaces are respectively formed at sides of the contact arms 121 and the supporting arms 122. The flexible circuit board which is sandwiched between the two uneven surfaces at the same time would be distorted, so that it is easy to cause contact points on the flexible circuit board misaligned, and thus result in problems that the contact points on the flexible circuit board can not contact or poorly contact the corresponding terminals.
Furthermore, the supporting arms 122 are inserted below the flexible circuit board, and make the flexible circuit board suspended above a circuit board on which the connector 1 is provided. To receive the supporting arm 122, it is necessary to increase a height of the connector 1; however, the connector 1 with higher height is not suitable for use in a thin electronic device.
Moreover, the terminal 12 has a soldering portion 123 and a fixed portion 124. The terminal 12 is fixed in the housing 11 by the fixed portion 124, and the soldering portion 123 is positioned behind the fixed portion 124 and extends rearwardly. This design for the soldering portion 123 would make a conductive path of the terminal 12 increased, which is beneficial to transmit high frequency signal.
FIG. 2 shows another existing connector 2, in which the connector 2 is disclosed by China utility model patent application No. CN200420078500.9 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 7,182,629). The connector 2 comprises a housing 21, a plurality of terminals 22, and a pluggable member 23. While mating a flexible printed circuit board 24, firstly the flexible printed circuit board 24 is inserted into the housing 21, and then the pluggable member 23 is moved into the housing 21, so that pluggable member 23 presses the flexible printed circuit board 24 so as to make the flexible printed circuit board 24 electrically connect the terminals 22.
The use of the pluggable member 23 would make the inserted flexible printed circuit board 24 suspended above the circuit board 25 on which the connector 2 is provided. In order to receive the pluggable member 23, it is necessary for the housing 21 to have sufficient height. Therefore, this design tends to increase the height of the connector 2, which results in a connector that is not suitable for use in thin electronic devices.
Furthermore, the terminal 22 has a soldering portion 221 and a fixed portion 222. The terminal 22 is fixed in the housing 21 by the fixed portion 222, and the soldering portion 221 is positioned behind the fixed portion 222 and extends rearwardly. This design for the soldering portion 221 would make a conductive path of the terminal 22 increased, which is less beneficial to transmit high frequency signals.